Good morning, Humphrey!

Only moments after waking up from his long, winter sleep, Humphrey can't wait to get outside.

Bruce McLean

Only moments after waking up from his long, winter sleep, Humphrey can't wait to get outside.

While spring can mean different things to different people, for my wife and me it marks the annual awakening of Humphrey, our pet desert tortoise.

My wife has had Humphrey for more than 20 years. He's an amazing pet, very friendly and curious. He spends his days wandering in our large backyard, burrowing into the yard's nooks and crannies, wandering into the dog house that serves as his shelter and burying himself in the blankets and newspapers that we fill it with.

Every fall he starts sleeping longer and longer until, finally, one day, he stops getting up altogether. We take the dog house and bring it into our bedroom and place him in there with fresh blankets and newspapers.

Over the winter, we'll hear the occasional rustling from his shelter. For five months, that's the only clue we have that he's still alive. Then, as spring approaches, the rustling becomes more frequent and we know it's almost time. Last week, as I was getting ready for work, I walked into our bedroom and there he was, looking longingly out our sliding glass door. I snapped a photo of the occasion and then let him out. I quickly put together a feast of romaine lettuce leaves along with lots of other salad greens and banana slices and he had his first meal in a very long time. He spent the day outdoors. I found him once just sleeping in the warm afternoon sun. He's gone back to sleep for another couple days, which is not unusual when he first awakens. But soon he'll be back to his old self, wandering the yard, following the dog and rabbits around, chowing down on the greens and fruits we leave out for him and walking right up to us for some attention when we venture into the backyard.